Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Bistec a la Mexicana

The official Mexican Flag

My much tastier version of the flag, which only took 5 minutes. You decide which is better.

You would think that a dish that bares your country's name would be up there with the best, but as you can see from above it is more symbolism than definition at work here. Bistec a la Mexicana certainly does its best to demonstrate the diversity of Mexico, since it is hard to see it made the same way twice with omissions and additions of ingredients common throughout cookbooks, restaurants and even our faithful old friend, the internet.

As such, I don't make any claims that this particular recipe is the one they ate the day they dreamt up the flag, or even that it is the best one out. But it is a good one and, more importantly I have covered a few things that I found sorely missing from quite a few recipes around such as the best cut to use, how to cook it for tenderness and best results. All covered below. Please hit me with any questions on the comments section, I am here to help you know.

Bistec a la Mexicana

Nationalistic Beef

350g rump steak

2 tablspn oil

1 heaped teaspoon sea salt, less for normal salt

300g tomato, boiled, cooled and peeled then chopped roughly

1 green Capsicum (aka bell pepper), sliced

1/2 white onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 shallots (scallions)

1 Jalapeño chile, sliced into strips (seeds optional)

chopped coriander

Slice the beef rump into strips, 3cm long and about 3mm thick.* Place in a bowl with the chopped shallots, sea salt and oil and mix well with your hands. cover and let sit for 20 mins to an hour.

Get a 25cm pan really hot, then add the beef (it should be room temperature so as not to cool the pan down too much) and basically stir fry for about 2 minutes until there is no pink surface. The beef should still be tender but cooked to at least rare. Remove to a bowl.

Add a little bit of oil then the onion, garlic, chile and green pepper. Lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes of stirring, letting the vegetables soften. Add the chopped tomato.

After it softens and takes on a saucy consistency (add a splash of water if required), introduce all the beef and liquid that has come out of it. Check seasoning, add coriander and serve. Provecho.

Notes

*Rump steak is a tasty cut that will remain tender if not over cooked.**